Thursday

May 23, 2019 at 9:45 AM

Fred Rogers, known as Mister Rogers to millions of children, is well known for his sayings and songs of kindness and encouragement. But one of his favorites consisted of only three numbers — "1-4-3," a code for "I love you" referring to the number of letters in each word.

In honor of Rogers, Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf declared May 23, the 143rd day of the year, as "1-4-3 Day" to encourage acts of kindness across the state.

"I’m challenging all Pennsylvanians to use (May 23) to exhibit the type of neighborly kindness Fred Rogers sought to spread around the world," Gov. Wolf said in a statement. "Pennsylvania is a commonwealth rooted in kindness and generosity, and this is our day to show the world the positive impact that neighborliness can have."

I’ve proclaimed today to be 1-4-3 Day, Pennsylvania’s first statewide day of kindness.

As governor, I’ve met countless Pennsylvanians. And I know we’re genuinely nice people. Join me in spreading love today and seeing just how far a little kindness can go.#143DayInPAhttps://t.co/zb2PFUSUGG

&mdash; Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf)May 23, 2019

The state is encouraging people to perform and act of kindness and post about it with the hashtag, #143DayInPA, which they're using to track the number of acts done in Rogers honor. A website built for the day's celebration also includes a "act of kindness generator," offering ideas for those participating.

Rogers, a Pennsylvania native, starred in PBS's "Mister Rogers Neighborhood" from 1968 until 2001. The concept of 1-4-3 Day is based around one of his lesser known sayings.

“Imagine what our real neighborhoods would be like,” Rogers once said, “if each of us offered, as a matter of course, just one kind word to another person.”

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